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Oral health and dental well‐being: testing a self‐determination theory model
Author(s) -
Halvari Anne E. Münster,
Halvari Hallgeir,
Bjørnebekk Gunnar,
Deci Edward L.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2012.00996.x
Subject(s) - self determination theory , competence (human resources) , autonomy , structural equation modeling , psychology , oral health , perception , clinical psychology , dental care , social psychology , medicine , dentistry , statistics , mathematics , neuroscience , political science , law
This study tested a self‐determination theory ( SDT ) process model of oral health and subjective dental well‐being. The results showed that: (1) patients' perceptions of autonomy‐supportive dental professionals were significantly positively predictive of patients' psychological needs satisfaction in treatment; (2) needs satisfaction was significantly related to perceived dental competence (positive), autonomous motivation (positive), and controlled motivation (negative) for dental care; (3) perceived competence was significantly positively, and controlled motivation was significantly negatively associated with self‐rated oral health and oral‐health‐related quality of life; (4) autonomous motivation for dental treatment was significantly positively associated with valuing continued dental treatment; and (5) the three oral‐health‐related variables were all significantly positively linked to subjective dental well‐being. A structural equation model supported the SDT process model.